DAP-CBILLS STRENGTHENS LBRMO CAPACITIES THROUGH EXCEL AND TECHNICAL WRITING COURSES

Class photo of the Senate Committee on Finance during their Excel training with resource persons, Mr. Jeff-Mike Smith Sule (first row, left) and Mr. Jaicon Ruedas (first row, second to the right).

Pasay City, Philippines – The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), through its Capability Building on Innovative Leadership for Legislative Staff (CBILLS) Program, conducted two specialized training courses for the scholars of the Senate Legislative Budget Research and Monitoring Office (LBRMO) in April 2026, further strengthening the technical and analytical competencies of legislative officers and staff to support the evolving needs of the Philippine Senate.

The training initiatives form part of DAP’s continuing commitment to equip legislative institutions with future-ready competencies amid the rapidly evolving demands of public finance, policy research, and digital transformation in government.

The first course, “Basic and Intermediate Excel for Finance and Budgeting: Data Management Techniques,” was held from 13 to 16 April 2026. The four-day training focused on strengthening the scholars’ skills in data management through sessions on organizing and cleaning datasets, performing calculations, summarizing data, and automating and protecting data using Microsoft Excel. The course also introduced practical and time-saving techniques to improve efficiency in financial and budget-related tasks while helping scholars adapt to the rapidly evolving digital environment. 

The sessions were facilitated by resource persons Mr. Jaicon T. Ruedas of JTR Analytics and Mr. Jeff-Mike Smith Sule of PowerMax Consulting Group. As part of the course requirements, scholars began enhancing their standard raw data and worksheet templates aligned with LBRMO’s operational workflow and reporting requirements.

Mr. Sule discusses the fundamentals and practical applications of data summarization.

Following this, the LBRMO scholars completed the course “Technical Writing Standards for Budget Research and Analysis” from 27 to 29 April 2026. The course aimed to strengthen scholars’ ability to produce clear, concise, consistent, and evidence-based budget documents that effectively communicate financial data, policy implications, and analytical findings.

Resource persons Prof. Aldo Gavril Lim and Prof. Garry Jay Montemayor from the University of the Philippines Los Baños College of Development Communication guided the session, which emphasized the importance of structure, style, formatting standards, data presentation, and reader-centered writing in promoting informed decision-making and institutional credibility.

The training also featured collaborative workshops that led to the development of the LBRMO Agency Briefer Content Map, a reference tool intended to standardize the structure and substance of agency briefers prepared by the office.

LBRMO scholars participate in a pre-session exercise aimed at recapping the writing process and deepening their understanding of technical writing principles.

Prof. Garry Jay Montemayor engages LBRMO scholars in an activity focused on identifying documents they commonly prepare and assessing their content across different document types.

Tailored to the operational needs and workflow of the LBRMO, both courses form part of the DAP’s continuing commitment to deliver responsive and relevant capability-building interventions for legislative staff and officers. – Trisha Mae A. Mariano

This article is originally posted on: https://dap.edu.ph/dap-cbills-strengthens-lbrmo-capacities-through-excel-and-technical-writing-courses/